Sojourn in Ecuador

Step up.  Step out. Change the prescription of the lens through which you see the world. Travel in person, or through books with fellow adventurers. Eyes open, heart open.

Day one- Ann Arbor-DTW- Atlanta-Quito, Ecuador for first night at Zaysant Ecolodge, a little walled world unto itself outside the city with fruits and flowers growing everywhere, and very welcoming late at night for weary travelers.

Otavalo soccer Mom

Bob and Henry watching Otavalo soccer

Day two- Transfer north to Otavalo, home of one of the most important markets in the Andes Mountains.  Everywhere, you can see the handicrafts of the local indigenous Otavaleños, one of the best known of the Kichwa tribes that preceded the Inca and Spaniards in Ecuador. It is the opening of Carnaval- the partying that precedes Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent for Catholics. Our initial urban hike to Cascades de Peguche, a park with waterfalls, is hastily interrupted by the mobs of teenage school kids throwing water balloons, bags of dyed flour, and shaving cream sprays at each other and anyone who might make the mistake of walking down the road. In the midst of all the craziness, a kids soccer game produced the lineup of moms and stopped casual visitors just like anywhere around the world!

A taxi ride brings us high into the hills above Otavalo to El Lechero, an ancient gum tree said to have magical healing properties. It surely healed us from the crazy time in the town below, providing vistas of the checkered farmland and surrounding mountains in golden late afternoon light.

The  full crew at El Lechero

Day three:  Visits to a weaver, and instrument maker’s shops reveal the use of local materials from the natural world- sheep and alpaca wools, berries and plants for dyes, bamboo for whistles, wood for mandolins. Carding, spinning and ancient weaving techniques.. newer frame looms all fascinate.  

Our visit to the instrument maker ended in a family concert with a pint-sized flute player!

Otavalo market

We travel back to Otavalo and the market - more tourist market than local, it is still heavily run by indigenous people who are more beautiful than the mostly machine made crafts they sell.  Still.... 

The best sight of the day takes us back up into the hills to the 30 acre Parque Cóndor, which is a Dutch-owned foundation dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating birds of prey, including Andean condors, bald eagles, owls, falcons and hawks.  The park sits on the steep hillside of Pucara Alto, a powerhouse site of pre-Inca religious importance. (Ruins of a temple remain.) Spectacular views look across to Imbabura volcano- located at a summit of Curiloma.

The intrepid 20 somethings! Henry, Leah and Nate

 Dining with four 25 year olds, three if whom are in the Peace Corps in Ecuador treats the rest of us to dinner conversation that is informed by their smart, thoughtful views, looking to the world for inspiration and adventure, bringing to the world their fine spirits and many skills. Lively discussion of the constitution, the Supreme Court, what is uniquely creative to humans (language, art, symbolism), many aspects of Ecuadorian culture, politics, and daily life. Love all these people...

Day four: 14 km hike around Laguna de Cuicocha (the lake of the Guinea pigs!) near Cotacachi. Climbing to 10,000 on the trail of the bromeliads - another sacred place, this time related to the volcano nearby and the acidic crater lake created from it.  The Kichwa of course had their beliefs about it, but now it's a well maintained trail with climbs around the hills surrounding the lake, covered all around with orchids, Passion flowers, and so many lovely herbs... Subtle mints, medicinal plants, paper trees.

Day five:  We return to Quito. The tour includes the surprising enjoyment of visiting Midad del Mundo, the exhibition of the equator. With its strength-sapping and straight draining demonstrations, this tourist site is actually very interesting.  We see the South American Union building, the old town streets and churches, and our guide Giovanni's description of life in Ecuador- oil boom and bust, the turn away from church-going if not the pageantry and idolatry is revelatory. I fell in love with the Madonna of Quito, with her angel wings and 7,000 pieces of sculpted aluminum.. She dances above the city on Panecillo.

Quito

On the Equator- literally!

Madonna of Quito

 

Cuenca street

Day 6: 5:00 am pickup for the 7:00 flight to Cuenca brought us to a limited tour through nearly empty streets as everything in Cuenca was closed for Carnaval.. even so, a way to focus on the beauty of the colonial architecture, the street art, and the interesting play of bridges and streets with the four rivers flowing through and converging in this World Heritage site. Who knew the “panama” hat really hails from Ecuador! Yet another market full of beautiful vegetables, fruits and flowers.

Beautiful murals and street art

We stumbled on a final Carnaval parade of the baby Jesus from a gilded church through the streets..

Day 7: A highlight in the activity sector, was cycling 35 km from Molobog to Ingapirca, the most important Inca ruins in Ecuador, learning about the Cañari indigenous culture, while passing through their villages and farm landscapes. A beautiful day with our guide Carlos leading the way. I call this “goddess cycling;” stretches of flats and downhill punctuated by serious climbs, especially the climb at the end. As the Cañari women were the shamans, with their incantations and aromatherapy, they cleaned out bad energy, let in the good, and I fancy that is what I’m doing as well.

The ride gave me time to think of all the patroness women: St. Ann of Cuenca, the cloud virgin, the virgin of the dew: healers and protectors.

Ingapirca is the largest Inca ruin in Ecuador, and in keeping with Inca building practices, the Temple of the Sun was constructed with huge stone blocks chiseled to fit together without mortar. It is the only temple shaped elliptically, like the path of the sun. It is also positioned so that on the solstices, sunlight falls through the center of the doorway to the chamber at the top of the temple.  The Cañari had enough knowledge of lunar cycles and astronomy and building practices, to contribute to the Inca, that they were allowed a fair measure of autonomy in contrast to other tribes that were decimated or entirely absorbed.

Ingapirca

  

Our guide Carlos described how the Cañari and Inca used water mirrors to reflect the moon and stars and as a calendar to determine crop planting times, and how important Spondylus shells were in foretelling rains and fertility (especially when, as now, they were in an El Niño year.) Shamans consumed Spondylus shell meat when they were seasonally toxic because of their algae consumption in order to take advantage of their hallucinogenic properties. Though Ingapirca is nowhere close to the ocean, many Spondylus shells have been found there.

Day 8: Hike in Cajas National Park.

Rain, cold, fog and mud did not detour us from hiking above beautiful glacial lakes and around spongy mosses and lichens, profuse flowering shrubs, and even at 13,000 feet, "paper" trees. Eucalyptus, mint, valerian, and myriad other medicinal herbs grow in profusion. After our hike and a late lunch we travel on to Guayaquil, and Nazu House- a B & B paradise before we head to the Galapagos. . Sharing mangoes right off the tree with wild parrots on the terrace at Nazu House was a delight!

Do, Bob, Henry, Leah and Nate

 Day 9: Flight to Baltra Island – 600 miles from Guayaquil- brings us to hot breezes as we board the yacht Anahi for our tour of the eastern islands of the Galapagos archipelago. Our first stop is Bachas Beach on the northern shore of  Isla Santa Cruz, where we walk the beach to see sea turtle nests, pelicans, a hunting heron, marine iguanas, red crabs, flying wild flamingoes and a yellow warbler. Everything I’d heard about the bountiful wildlife in the Galapagos, totally unafraid of humans, is true. An animal lover’s and photographer’s paradise (if a HOT paradise!). First ocean swim very warm and salty... A word here about my fellow travelers. I couldn't imagine a more interesting or comfortable group of people to share an active and fast-moving vacation with.  Good friends and neighbors at home, and great young (Spanish-speaking!) kids doing wonderful things with their lives make the best travel companions!  

marine iguana

Day 10: Genovese 

Male frigate bird

red-footed booby

Frigates, red-footed boobies, both brown and white, two yellow crested herons, sea lions, fur seals, Eagle ays, colorful fish, Galapagos doves, swallow tale gulls, a short eared own, sandalwood trees with their scented sap, prickly pear cactus (replete with cactus finches) and the sandalwood  for nesting in and perching, all seen on Darwin Bay beach and Prince Phillips steps (El Baranco) hike on Genovese island. The soft breeze along the cliffs was beautiful, cooling and calming.

Galapagos doves

Sea lion

cactus finch

yellow crested heron

fur seal

Day 11: An overnight transfer to South Plazas Island and later to Isla Santa Fe brought us to another beautiful cliff walk where we spotted storm petrels, and short eared owls, fly catchers, red billed tropic birds, lava herons, blue footed boobies, and on a later snorkel from the boat, sea turtles, and spotted eagle rays amidst the clown and blow fish.   Dozens of land iguanas found only on Santa Fe greeted us.

land iguana

yellow warbler

blue footed booby

funny looking sea lions

Kicker Rock

Day 10 and 11:A morning hike on Punta Pitt, a visit to Leon Dormido (Kicker Rock) and Lobos Island, and finally a visit to the Galapagos Turtle Breeding Center of Cerro Colorado, completed our amazing time in Ecuador...